Just realized I've been overthinking the small stuff for way too long

About three years back, I was on a big commercial job in Cincinnati, installing these huge, heavy insulated units. I was so focused on getting the perfect seal with the setting blocks and shims, measuring everything three times, that I was moving way too slow. The foreman, this guy named Carl, walked over, watched me for a minute, and just said, 'Kid, it's a window, not a watch. Get it in, get it square, and move on.' It hit me that I was treating every single unit like a museum piece when most of the time, the building is going to settle and shift anyway. I was adding maybe an hour of fussing per opening for a gain that didn't really matter in the long run. Now, I still do good work, but I don't let perfect be the enemy of done. Anyone else have a moment where they learned to stop sweating the tiny details that don't actually affect the final product?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix_schmidt18d ago

My old boss in Seattle had a rule for drywall finishing. He said if you can't see the flaw from six feet away with the lights on, it's not a flaw. We'd have guys sanding a seam for 45 minutes under a work light. He'd walk by, flip the overheads on, and tell them to pack up. It taught me that most quality standards are about the end user's experience, not some perfect ideal only the installer sees.

west.claire19d ago

That "window, not a watch" line is so true. I used to get stuck trying to make every single repair in my units flawless, like repainting a whole wall over a tiny scuff. A tenant finally said they just needed it clean and functional, not perfect. I was adding days of work for something no one even noticed. Now I ask myself if the extra effort actually changes how something works or looks from a normal distance. Most of the time it doesn't, so I just get it to a good standard and call it done.